Friday, August 26, 2011

UTMB Delayed... Again!

For those following along online in The States (or anywhere in the world for that matter), we got news a bit ago that the race start has been postponed by 5 hours. We will now be starting at 23:30 France time, which is 5:30pm EST in the US. There's a pretty strong and fairly fast moving storm expected to roll through here right around the time that the race was supposed to start. I guess their hope now is that the worst of it will have passed by the time we start 5 hours later. Going to be a lot of tired folks with this race starting about the time most people are used to falling asleep for the night.

I for one love the later start for a few reasons. First of all the storm is going to bring in some very cool weather. We might be running in some rain/snow in the first third of the race, but by sunrise it's supposed to be mostly cleared up and significantly cooler than it's been. Cool weather = better stomach performance which more often than not = better overall performance. I also like that we will get to see a lot more of the route in daylight. Instead of running in darkness for 10+ hours we will do it for about 6 or 7. I love running in the dark, but these mountains here are so amazingly dramatic I want to see as much of them as possible. And the third reason I like the later race start is just that it's something different. In the United States there is such a format to most of our ultras. They're almost all one of 4 exact distances and they almost all start between 5:00 and 8:00am. I love that this is simply a run around a mountain (it happens to be right around 100 miles, but only by chance, not by design) and that we are starting at 11:30 at night. It just gives the whole thing even more of a unique and exciting feel.

And beyond all of this there is nothing like having 2,500 runners primed and ready to do a run that they've been preparing for for most of the year and then telling them they need to wait even 5 more hours. You can just feel the tension in the air here now. It's easy to react negatively to news like this, and part of me is frustrated with the situation, but the decision has been made and now it's time to just wait a little longer and try to get some more rest. As soon as we line up, take the start, and run out of Chamonix the whole 5 hour delay is going to mean nothing in comparison to the adventure that lies ahead. Personally I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the most satisfying runs of my life so I don't really care so much when we start... just as long as we get to actually finish this time around.

It's really great to read your positive spin on all this, Geoff! Really, what else can you do? To paraphrase John Salmonson, "A 15% increase in attitude equals a 90% increase in performance." I'm not sure of the numbers he uses... but he tells me this all the time... I really have to start working on my attitude!!! :P Obviously, you have the mental game down for this!!! Have a great run!!

I got ridiculed for what I wrote on here several months ago but I was right, wasn't I? The great champ, Mr. Roes, did a 2-bit 100 mile race in Santa Barbara in the spring and didn't approach his training correctly and now he's DNF'd at two big events in the past 2 months. He can shovel forth a whole slew of excuses but the fact of that matter is that Roes can't finish a race anymore, much less be a factor. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Also pathetic that Jurek can't finish a race anymore. The US got embarrassed at Mont Blanc not because we lack talent (we have plenty of talent) but because our greatest runners (such as Roes) are stupid when it comes to peaking and choosing their races carefully. You can't be in peak shape year-around; you have to choose your peaks carefully and design your schedule accordingly. I wonder if Roes gets that basic premise?

To Cloud: Perhaps you need to allow Mr. Roes to share his thoughts on the race before making such a blanket statement which sounds as if you're summing up his career. This slump shall pass eventually. All the greats have slumps

Cloud: no, it's not apparent that you were right. Your theory doesn't explain why Kilian ran a 100K race in May, just a few weeks before States, and then scored wins at States and UTMB. Shouldn't he have been burned out too? And why did Jurek drop out as well, when he hadn't run any longer races (AFAIK) in the months leading up to UTMB?

Nobody -- in any sport -- wins all the time. (A few years ago, there was this pretty decent basketball player. Guy by the name of Jordan. As he put it, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.")

Aside from whatever holes your logic may have, you present your views in a very mean-spirited way. You're never going to get very far by calling others "stupid" or "pathetic". Especially when talking about somebody like Geoff, who is about as kind a guy as you'll ever meet. All your post tells me is that you have some serious issues. Good luck to you in dealing with them.

Geoff, the rest of us support you through whatever ups and downs your running career may take. Hopefully you'll keep sharing your thoughts here, and not allowing the occasional Internet tough guy to make you think otherwise.

I, as a French guy, am trully sorry that Geoff DNFed in Chamonix this week-end; I was on the trail, waiting for him to run by, but he didn't make it to where I was waiting... I'm amazed to see how many guys dropped from the race, and not only Americans I can tell you: the weather conditions, the temperatures, made it a very tough race. I'm sure Geoff will be on the starting line next year, unlike Nick Clark who apparently is kind of pissed off by a few things that went wrong... from what I know, Killian won't take part in it, as he wants to come to the U.S. to compete...probably the Hard Rock. I'm eager to read Geoff's report now; but he'll always be welcome, as all the other US residents out here in the French Alps.Bam